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Transportation in the South of Chile
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As good as the bus systems are in
Southern Chile, they just can not compete with the experience of
riding a train through this incredible Southern landscape. The
highways in Southern Chile have a tendency to run through rather
industrial and ugly parts of the South. The train on the other hand
tends to wonder along through the countryside, revealing some
incredible sites that might have been missed by taking a Tur bus in
Southern Chile. One of the most spectacular runs is between Temuco
and Valdivia. This line continues on to Puerto Montt , the southern
most stop on the rail lines in Chile.
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The city of Valdivia is closer to the
coast than most cities in Southern Chile, and slightly off the main
rail line that crosses the south. At one point the Valdivia was a
major rail yard because of its importance as a shipping port. The
main station in Valdivia, and rail yard are now fairly abandoned.
The Temuco to Valdivia line does not actually stop in Valdivia, but
in a small town about 20 minuets by bus to downtown Valdivia. The bus
passes in front of the train station at Mafil about every 15 min, and
to Valdivia cost about $800 pesos.
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Regardless of this minor inconvenience
of the stop in Mafil, jumping off the train at Valdivia is worth the
trouble. The landscape surrounding this part of Chile's lakes region
( Region de Los Lagos) more than makes up for any shortcomings
associated with getting completely to your destination. The landscape
more than explains why Germans so heavily settled this area, and
would easily be mistaken for the Rhine river valley in Europe.
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The trains are fast, new, and clean.
Tickets prices are same or less than a bus ticket to any destination
in Southern Chile. The leg room and comfort of a train will easily be
the deciding factor over a cramped bus ride. The only difference is
the frequency of the trains are far less than the bus. Typically once
daily in each direction to most major destinations in Southern Chile.
However, people who ride trains tend to not be in such a big a hurry,
and we believe they will forgive this fault.
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In our previous article we covered the
problems and controversy with the Rail system. Some of the problems
reported in the local press about the train in Chile are true,
however it seems most are not. As far as we can tell they really are
mostly a fabrication of a lazy media looking for an easy story.
Ironically, about the same time we published the last article a
reporter was killed by a train while taking pictures on the tracks
(we had nothing to do with it).
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